The Weirwood. Even the name is spoken with mystic reverence. The ancient hunting grounds of the werewolves. The dark trees hid dozens of the creatures, and anyone who stayed through the night was never seen again. So it was for hundreds of years, until Sir Keinly The Bold destroyed them. Sir Keinly stepped into the forest one day and returned months later, with a wagon full of dozens of wolf corpses. The Werewolves, he claimed, were extinct.

And so did the people of Pinare believe, for the last ten years, and the village of Laniel was founded deep in the Weirwood, to take advantage of the trade routes between Pinare and neighboring Westingland. Populated almost solely by immigrants from other villages, the village was peaceful and calm, particularly under the watchful eye of the now retired Lord Mayor Sir Keinly. Until yesterday. Yesterday Sir Keinly was found dead inside his house, a bullet from his flintlock having taken painted his wall with his brains and a small note pinned to his shirt.

I am sorry. In my hunt for the werewolves, I was infected. I have locked myself within my basement every night since, fearing the change would hurt others, but unable to turn myself in. Last night, the lock on my basement failed, and I roamed the village free. I cannot live with the shame of what I have done. I awoke with another's blood in my mouth. I have infected another, and you must find and kill him. Please, remedy my mistake, before the village dies.

In Dishonor, Sir Keinly

Now the village is in uproar. Every person living there is pointing to another, and it is clear that someone will hang before the day is out. If that someone is not one of the infected, it is likely that another will die before the morning.

---------------------

Rules: You are a villager within the small village of Laniel, deep within the Weirwood. Odds are you have moved here within the last ten years to take advantage of the wealth of the newly established trade route through the woods. Those who had something to lose, or who are too afraid, have left the village, fleeing into the day with the news that the werewolves may be active again.

If you have not fled, odds are you are a Villager, in which case your goals are to eliminate these wolves, keep yourself safe and die rich and happy as a survivor of this panic.

Villagers have the following special roles:

The Scryer: You have learned the ways of a scryer, watching others to keep yourself safe or advantageous. You are able to, once per day, watch over another's secrets in your scrying surface (any reflective surface). But the scryer's arts are not perfect, and you're never sure that what you've seen is true.

Every Cycle, the Scryer may Scry one villager, determining his role with 75% accuracy. Scryers may Scry the same target over multiple nights.

Should the game have more than 10 players but less than 20 players, there will be 2 scryers. Should the game have more than 20 players, there will be 3 scryers.

The Baner: You always knew Sir Keinly was wrong. There was no one who could have caught every werewolf, especially when they can look like anyone in the day. Therefore you were ready. You keep a silver bullet on you all times, and a silver dagger, and remember the old ways to keep them away. Wolfsbane, Belladonna... Garlic? You remember every possible weakness. You've kept this obsession hidden from your neighbors and you are glad of it now. Now is your moment to be a hero.

The Baner may protect one villager from the werewolves every Cycle. That villager will not be killed and the werewolves will gain no kill for the night. Only the Baner and the Wolves will know this happened. The Baner may also Scry a player, though their methods are inefficient and they require 2 cycles to gain a 75% accuracy check.

If there are more than 15 players, there will be 2 baners.

The Masons: You were always surprised this village managed to get large enough to require 2 of your order to watch over it. The Masons know one another's identities, and each checked the others for werewolf infection the moment they heard of Sir Keinly's treachery. Each of you knows the other is not infected. The Masons know each others identities and that each of them is not a werewolf.

There will be no Masons if the game has less than 10 people. If the game has more than 10 people there will be 2 Masons. If the game has 15 or more there will be 3 Masons. If the game has 20 or more there will be 4 Masons.

Of course if you are infected your role is that of a Werewolf and your goal is to kill off these meddling people and regain your people's ancestral hunting grounds. Each werewolf does not know the identity of the others. The werewolves may vote every cycle to kill a certain other player. Should the werewolves vote to kill each other they instead learn the fact that the other is a werewolf. Werewolves together are more dangerous than werewolves alone. There is 1 Werewolf per 5 players.

The werewolves have the following special roles:

If there are more than 3 Werewolves: The Alpha: As the strongest Werewolf, you get your kill first. This means that if the Werewolves tie on their kill votes you are the tiebreaker.

The Stalker: You always were sneaky, even before being infected. Now you know how to watch someone, and ensure that no one can protect them or watch them.

Every night, the Stalker can pick a certain player to Stalk. If someone attempts to Scry or Protect the trapped player, they are killed. This supersedes the standard werewolf kill of the cycle, so if the Werewolves vote to kill Player A and then Stalk-kill Player B, Player A survives the night and Player B is eliminated instead.

However, if the player that should be killed by the Stalker is currently being Protected, the trap fails. For example: Player A, the Baner, protects Player B, the Scryer. Player B attempts to Scry Player C, who has been Stalked. The Stalk fails, Player B is given their investigation results normally, and whoever the Werewolves voted to kill is eliminated as per usual.

There is no Stalker unless there are 3 or more Werewolves.

-------------------------------------------

As I hope I got across here this will be a simple game of paranoia and maneuvering, using these boards and the PM feature. No player shall begin knowing another's role (except the Masons). Cycles will start and end on Mondays and Fridays (Cycle 1 from Monday to Friday and Cycle 2 From Friday to Monday) and those who do not make a vote in this time will count as Null votes. During the Cycle you may change your vote as often as you like, generally reacting to impassioned arguments or lies. If the Scryer or Baner do not send a PM making their choices they will not be active that night. Same for the other special roles. Each of you should make a character to urge roleplaying. There is no official character system.

Additionally: when I write up the Cycle reports, your characters will be represented within–especially if they die.

When creating your character, consider including the following details.

Name

Place of Origin

One or two lines about appearance.

Role in the Village

Why would they choose not to leave the village?*

*Obviously, if you are assigned certain roles, this will turn out to be a fabrication.

Recruitment opens now and closes in one week assuming we get enough people (roughly 15), otherwise will remain open two weeks.

Professor Alessandra Devries, from a little village to the West of Westingland.

A stern and uncompromising woman with fiery hair just turning to grey, Professor Devries would stare down a whole pack of werewolves and make them wipe their feet before they came into her library. She is a matronly sort who favors homespun woolens and generally doesn't show as much cleavage as the avatar picture would have you think.

Profession: Librarian and schoolmarm

She refuses to abandon the town's small library, which has taken her a lifetime to build. Books and teaching are her passion, and she'd rather die than see a page of The Dialogues of Plato fall to mildew and dry rot.

Simon Shrewsbury, a middle aged herbalist and poultice maker who arrived seven years ago from a small town a week's ride south of Laniel.

A plain faced man of smaller stature, Simon has a bristly goatee and wears his dirty brown hair pulled into a small ponytail. His clothes are frayed and faded, but the thread and stitching of the garments are those of a wealthy man creating an odd contrast in his appearance.

Taking advantage of the trade routes through Weirwood, Simon has made a fine living for himself on the sale of herbal potions and remedies for the ailing traveler. His cluttered workshop and greenhouse adjoins his small, comfortable home on the edge of the village.

Stubborn to a fault, Simon refuses to flee the danger. Laniel is his home and he'll not abandon it or his neighbors to the savagery of werewolves.

Place of Origin: Northington (The village located to the north-east of Westingland)

One or two lines about appearance: With his clear lac of pigment its fairly obvious that Whitey is an albino. Riddled with a host of allergies (especially Peanuts) he needs to be very cautious about what or whom he comes into contact with to prevent allergic reactions. Whitey is always taking preventative measures to prevent future reactions. Surprisingly though, fermented yeast causes no allergic reaction to Whitey so he drinks beer like a fish.

Role in the Village: Brewmaster & Tavern Owner - Whitey is the owner and founder of the combination Brewery/Pub tasked with supplying the town its favorite alcoholic beverages. The upper floor of the building also serves as Whitey's house.

Why would they choose not to leave the village? In order to leave Laniel, Whitey would have to travel through The Weirwood. Getting here was hard enough after an allergic attack caused by a squirrel hiding a peanut in his sleeping bag almost killed him. That combined with the pollen floating in the air and various animal hairs laying about, he wont risk death by leaving the village when he's confident Laniel's inhabitants will sort this fiasco out eventually.

I have sent out a combination of PM's and Emails to about 15 or so people from my other PBP and some friends inviting them to play. Hopefully we get a lot of new recruits for this match. I want to see the damage we could do with a large number of players.

One or two lines about appearance: Eldon is a large man, and quite imposing. He always appears angry when he's seen.

Role in the Village: Gravedigger and tender of the graveyard. He lives in a small hut near the graveyard. While he himself is quite scary and imposing, he manages to keep the graveyard in good shape and repair. He has shown up at peoples houses in the middle of the night, their kid in tow, having caught them inside the graveyard. The few times he is seen in town is either picking up supplies for the graveyard, or the occasional trip to the tavern.

Why would they choose not to leave the village?: Before moving to Laniel, it is rumored about town that he once had a family, a wife and two daughters. What happened to them is unknown, if they even existed, though rumors vary wildly.

Keep in mind Nostrus that this is not a Pathfinder adventure. Beyond the required information (Name, Location, Role, Reasoning) its not necessary to make an elaborate character. However, you could if you want to. Town Preacher might fit the bill a little better.

That assassin game looks like it was pretty fun, got a good laugh out of some of the dialogue. I suppose I can throw my hat in...

Name: Vorian Ritter

Place of Origin: Pinare

One or two lines about appearance: A handsome but worn man rapidly reaching the end of his youth. Always appears to be well-dressed, wearing clothing and jewelery likely costing far more than he could have possibly afforded.

Role in the Village: Trader of fine wares. A disappointing business venture in Pinare left Vorian with a wagon overfull of unsold goods, mostly consisting of fine furs and jewelery. Opting to try his luck as a traveling salesman, he arrives at the village just days before Sir Keinly's tragic suicide. More than a little desperate to make a profit, he has set up shop.

Why would they choose not to leave the village? Cocky and stubborn to a fault, he is determined to sell off at least some of his stock. At the very least until he can hire someone to fixed that damned wagon wheel...

This sounds like fun and the assassin's game really got me interested. Probably a stupid noob question. Where exactly is this set? Is this Pathfinder, Real World, Faerun, etc? I see people posting places of origin and I'm not recognizing them. Once I get a handle on that, I'll pop the character up here.

Recruitment opens now and closes in one week assuming we get enough people (roughly 15), otherwise will remain open two weeks.

As regards time commitment. In the last game as there was no direct plot-line and objectives - it was all free-form rp_ing. Some people posted only 1 per cycle (3-4 days), obviously it is better to post on a daily basis and if there is a tight vote then it can be advantageous to be around to vote or change your vote. However, it doesn't require too much of a commitment particularly if you have only the basic role.

I'll setup the profile with the avatar soon. Work comp has problems with the images.

Name: Bruce Stilgrasen

Place of Origin: New Boston

One or two lines about appearance: Bruce is a well built young man, tall and athletic. He carries himself with a confidence bordering on arrogance when he's out dealing with the townsfolk but there are those that say he's a broken man behind closed doors.

Role in the Village: Lumber Mill Owner/Proprietor. Sent out at the behest of his father, Lord Stilgrasen of the Evermarch, Bruce was tasked with expanding the family's already considerable holdings. The Weirwood was an untapped resource and held some of the rarest lumber in the world but due to the ... infestation ... was inaccessible until recently. Upon the founding of Laniel, Bruce was packed up and shipped off almost the next day.

Why would they choose not to leave the village?: Bruce knows that to return home a failure before his father would be a fate worse than infection. No, his best chance is to stick it out and help the other villagers sort this quickly so that production can recommence.

Any word from Adrian, The Doctor or The Red Robert from our last game? Im surprised they haven't signed up yet...

I haven't heard from them but we could pm them AA3 was the last to post in the old IC thread.

Orphan Arielle wrote:

List of questions:

Is there a character age limit?

Would village children be viable PCs?

Does this need to be a fresh avatar, or could I use this one for example which has current PbP PFRPG info in the description?

How do we know about the current vote status?

How often would that be updated as people hop on and off the fence before a cycle ends?

My PbP team are mad rpers and could be seriously into this, so I may be able to bring 3 or 4 more players.

Again I not to speak on behalf of Ryuko, therefore IMO:

I don't think so, and provided you don't mind a youngster being killed/lynched by other PC's. Personally I am fine with it.

I don't think there needs to be a fresh Avatar, Prof Devries is re-using hers. I probably would put a spoiler background for this game in there though.

Current votes are generally shown when a PC or Ryuko decides to create a list.

The votes start from the beginning at the start of each new phase, so just because you voted for someone last cycle (& they weren't killed) doesn't mean you are still voting for them. You have to re-vote each cycle. It got very tense in the last cycle of the last game, at least for me.

Eben: I'll be done on Easter Sunday, assuming we get enough (which looks likely) And you are required to post at least once per cycle, twice per week, though you're free to post as much as you like, and one PM to me every cycle if you have a special role.

Whitey: I'm not sure, The Doctor usually got on later in the week so we'll see on that one, as for Red Robert and Adrian, no clue.

Arielle: I haven't thought about children characters. I suppose I'd be fine with it as long as everyone understood that I would likely gloss over children's deaths a bit more than anyone else's (no one wants to hear about a child being mutilated). I'd say you probably would have no respect (and thus unlikely to have a vote in the cycle's lynchings) if you were under about... 13? Maybe 14? You'd be free to use that avatar if you'd like, I don't mind, though I'd like a description or link to your descriptive post here in your profile for this game. I post up the vote status once every day or two, some players post their own tallies, so feel free to do that if you'd like. I always have at least one update an hour or two before the cycle ends, just to give everyone a chance to change their votes up at the last minute.

Place of Origin: Born in southern Pinare and brought to Laniel during its founding by his parents when he was twelve. Most likely to die there whether by fate or at the hands of men and werewolves remains to be seen...

Appearance: Somewhat disheveled with a dirty face, Taraz appears like a glassy eyed country bumpkin. It's been remarked he isn't too terrible to look at when he cleans up, but that rarely happens except around festival times. Hair appears uncombed and brown. It may have been a dirty blond once upon a time, but as he got older, it has just become dirty. Medium height and not very athletic, Taraz is more wiry and scrawny than anything.

Role in the Village: Son of Roren, a village cobbler, Taraz has knowledge of the occupation. However he frequently shirks his duties to drink and chase some of the less moral women in the village or those passing through. A frequent but inept gambler, Taraz is seen as kind of a mainstay for any standing backroom games and raucous parties. He ends up paying off his debts and tabs by making shoes which almost seems to be the only way to get Taraz to actually work his craft. The few people to sport his shoes or boots have remarked that Taraz's skill exceeds his dad Roren's.

Why Taraz stayed: Terrified of what's happening, Taraz's first instinct was to run with the others. However, Taraz had found himself putting it off. He had halfheartedly helped others to pack in exchange for a few coins to keep the drink flowing since that was the only way he could keep his sanity (he feels). In the village now mostly because a life of laziness and bad habits is hard to change and until something really bad occurs to snap him out of his torpor, Taraz remains.

Appearance: Young and buxom. A little too young and a little too buxom in fact. A delicate face, some flesh on the bones - all in the right places. She wears appropriate clothing for a young lass from a good family. She has impeccable manners. All this means is that she has all the apperance of an innocent and sweet maiden, or a sultry vixen (depending on the attitude of the beholder).

Role in the Village: The village belle. Many a nose was bloodied to defend her honour or win her affection. Many a strapping lad puffed his chest in vain. Many a man behaves like a silly boy in her presence.

Why Lorelei stayed: Oh she so badly wants to leave this miserable little hamlet, but her Daddy will not let her. Besides, she has no money and - land sakes - she'll get a rash or catch a cold - there are mosquitoes in the woods....etc. etc..

Responding to Whitey's invite. Thanks! This looks like a blast. Am I to choose one of those roles now, or will that be sorted out later?

Is it expected that we will be PMing each other in character to simulate Survivor style one-on-one conferences to discuss who might or might not be infected? Or is it assumed all discussion happens in public?

I was even thinking that if PMing a specific character, it would be required to make a thread post that said something like:

Taraz and Whitey both step around the corner of the apothecary shop and can be heard whispering for ten minutes or so. When they return they seem to be trying hard not to look at the Professor.

PMing occured in he last game, it didn't have to be in character. Depending on how people feel. It is NOT required to be pointed out in thread, since you said it could be obvious. Especially like in the last game where it became obvious the 2 werewolves/killer had met up, a statement IC would be too suspicious.

IC justification is that it is a large village and not all conversations will be observed. However some posts and pm's like that would be interesting.

Roles are indeed assigned at random, this is a game of playing the players as much as the characters. PMing will happen often between myself and those with roles, and can happen between players. I'd prefer it be in character but it likely won't be and since no one sees it, don't worry too much about it. You will not require any sort of post in the thread to make a PM, however, no matter how personal or private you believe a conversation to be (or how many spoilers you hide it behind) anything in the thread is considered common knowledge. Laniel has a surprisingly good grapevine.

Lol, well my sentence about the Professor was mostly just for fun. I just figured the simulation that people "noticed" the chatting people might help stir up conspiracy and conflict which I am assuming is part of the fun, heh heh.

Waltz reporting in possibly at the last moment. I've been a bit scatterbrained lately, but I'll be recycling the good doctor if you'll have me.

Name: Dr. Lugwaude Lächelnschiefe

Place of Origin: Leipzig to the far east.

Appearance: A pale effeminate doctor with dirty unkempt blond hair. A single sunken blue eye that darts wildly about and a old tan eye-patch covering his right eye which he lost in an unfortunate explosion of acidic chemicals. He wears a cloth dirty white coat and a crooked brown bow tie and smells strongly of noxious chemicals.

Role in the Village: The good doctor has taken to hiding out in the village after being chased out of university and branded a dangerous criminal in a far off land due to a few experiments gone awry. He spends most his time keeping himself busy with science as an aloof recluse. More recently he did produce a strange gas that doubled crop output and killed many pests during a dire drought for the village while having the unfortunate side effect of tainting the food with a bitter sour egg after taste and strangely giving those with red hair stomach problems. The villagers call upon him as a last resort healer and treat him as a strange mystic.

Why would they choose not to leave the village?: Having been branded a dangerous criminal and with several outstanding bounties and lawsuits leveled against him he is very reluctant to leave the village. The nature of his most recent experiment on mushrooms is nearly complete, but still in the delicate testing phase and can't be moved without scrapping his research and starting the nearly two year long process over again with ample risk of failure. He madly believes his latest experiment will yield a breakthrough to return him prestige and solve his current troubles.

Role in Village: Tristen is a young Barrister from two villages over. When the old Barrister, Belmy Clearwater passed away, Tristen, his nephew, took over his practice.

Apperance: Tristen is a small, slight young man, more pretty than handsome. His eyes are large and open, innocent, the color of the clearest skies. His wears his golden hair long, tied back in a wrist thick ponytail, that hangs down to his waist.

Backstory: Tristen is a slight young man, wide eyed, innocent and kind. He spends most of his days in the comfort of his late Uncles Practice, dealing with the villagers disputes.

Tristen likes nothing more that curling up with a good book, well, apart from stamps that is.

When his Uncle passed away, Tristen moved in to the Village. He has spent very little time with any of the villagers and is seen as some what of an outcast.

Reason for staying: Tristen refuses to give up his Uncles practice. More importantly, he refuses to give up his extensive Stamp Collection, a collection so large it would take two strong horses and a wagon to move.